#resources/linux/search

Linux `grep` & `find` Cheat Sheet

grep — Search Inside Files

Command	Example	Explanation
`grep "word"`	`grep "error" log.txt`	Find lines in `log.txt` containing the word "error".
`grep -i "word"`	`grep -i "error" log.txt`	Case-insensitive search for "error" in `log.txt`.
`grep -w "word"`	`grep -w "fail" logs.txt`	Match only the whole word "fail", not "failed" or "failure".
`grep -x "line"`	`grep -x "OK" status.txt`	Match lines that are exactly "OK".
`grep -v "word"`	`grep -v "error" log.txt`	Show lines that don’t contain "error".
`grep -n "text"`	`grep -n "fail" logs.txt`	Show matching lines with their line numbers.
`grep -c "text"`	`grep -c "404" web.log`	Count how many lines contain "404".
`grep -l "word"`	`grep -l "root" *.conf`	Show filenames (only) that contain "root".
`grep -o "pattern"`	`grep -o "user[0-9]*" users.txt`	Show only the matching part (like user123).
`grep "^text"`	`grep "^n" file.txt`	Find lines starting with "n".
`grep -i "^net"`	`grep -i "^net" config.txt`	Case-insensitive lines starting with "net".
`grep "text$"`	`grep "\.conf$" filenames.txt`	Find lines ending with `.conf`.
`grep -A 2 "error"`	`grep -A 2 "error" syslog`	Show 2 lines after each "error".
`grep -B 2 "error"`	`grep -B 2 "error" syslog`	Show 2 lines before each "error".
`grep -C 2 "error"`	`grep -C 2 "error" syslog`	Show 2 lines before & after each match.
`grep -r "text"`	`grep -r "TODO" .`	Recursively search "TODO" in all files under current dir.
`grep -E "A	B"`	`grep -E "cat
`grep -F "1.2.3.4"`	`grep -F "1.2.3.4" ip.txt`	Match exact string, no regex used.

find — Search for Files and Directories

Command	Example	Explanation
`find . -name "file"`	`find . -name "notes.txt"`	Search for `notes.txt` in current directory and subdirs.
`find /path -iname "file"`	`find /etc -iname "host.conf"`	Case-insensitive search for `host.conf` in `/etc`.
`find . -type f`	`find . -type f`	Find all files under current directory.
`find . -type d`	`find . -type d`	Find all directories under current directory.
`find . -name "*.log"`	`find . -name "*.log"`	Find all `.log` files under current directory.
`find . -size +10M`	`find . -size +10M`	Find files larger than 10MB.
`find . -size -100k`	`find . -size -100k`	Find files smaller than 100KB.
`find . -empty`	`find . -empty`	Find all empty files and directories.
`find /var -mtime -1`	`find /var -mtime -1`	Files modified in the last 1 day.
`find . -user USERNAME`	`find . -user root`	Find files owned by a specific user.
`find . -perm 777`	`find . -perm 777`	Find files or folders with 777 permission.
`find . -exec COMMAND {} \;`	`find . -name "*.tmp" -exec rm {} \;`	Find and delete all `.tmp` files.
`find . -newer file.txt`	`find . -newer backup.txt`	Find files modified more recently than `backup.txt`.

Tips:

Use grep when you're looking inside files.
Use find when you're looking for files themselves.

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